Prep Roundup : Irvine Girls Win Volleyball Opener

Irvine High School’s highly regarded girls’ volleyball team was pushed to five games but defeated Corona del Mar, 15-11, 12-15, 15-7, 8-15, 15-5, in a season-opening, nonleague match for both teams in front of about 200 Tuesday night at Corona del Mar.

Irvine, which won the Southern Section 4-A championship and the state Division I championship last season, returned starters Bev Oden, Jenny Fu, Melinda Norton and Haley Orme.

Because of the returning starters, Irvine is the top-ranked team in the nation in Volleyball Monthly.

“I feel a lot better about the ranking now that the first match is over,” Irvine Coach Mark McKenzie said. “There is no doubt that it helps to have experience on this level.”

Then there was the much younger Corona del Mar team. The Sea Kings, who reached the 5-A final last season only to lose to Newport Harbor, return only one senior--outside hitter Laurie Sawin.

Jill Young, a junior, returns at setter, but its all sophomores after that.

Irvine opened a 2-1 lead after three games, but Corona del Mar took control of the fourth game from the start and led, 13-4, on its the way to a 15-8 victory.

Much of the intensity built up over the first two hours of the match was lost quickly in the final game as Irvine raced to 10-0 lead on its way to a 15-5 victory.

Irvine began with 4-0 run. After a side out, the Vaqueros scored 6 more points. Five of the 10 points came as a direct result of unforced errors by Corona del Mar.

Oden and Shawna Michartz combined for consecutive blocks for two points for Irvine. Oden also had two kills and Jenny Fu had two service aces during the Irvine run.

Charlie Brande, Corona del Mar coach, called two timeouts in an attempt to stop the Irvine rally, but they didn’t work.

“It became pretty obvious that our team was a little less experienced,” Brande said. “It’s hard to sustain concentration this time of the season.”

Irvine’s Oden led all players with 21 kills. Lara Carlsen had 16 kills, Tracy Schriber 11 and Sawin 10 kills for Corona del Mar.

In other nonleague volleyball matches:

Valencia 3, Sonora 2--Setter Julie Jones had 23 assists to lead Valencia to a 15-12, 15-2, 11-15, 4-15, 15-11 win at Sonora.

Canyon 3, Sunny Hills 2--Tracey Cooper had 17 kills, leading Canyon to a 6-15, 15-9, 15-10, 7-15, 15-13 win.

Magnolia 3, Troy 0--Host Magnolia (1-1) was led by Jill Schneider’s 15 kills and 6 blocks in a 15-3, 15-4, 15-11 victory.

Newport Harbor 3, Huntington Beach 0--Newport Harbor rallied to win, 15-10, 15-12, 15-13, despite failing behind, 9-0, in the first game.

Villa Park 3, Katella 0--Anne Salzman and Dana Armstrong led the Spartans (2-0), 15-5, 15-11, 15-10.

In Express League girls’ volleyball:

Claremont 3, Bethel Baptist 1--Amy Miller had 19 kills and 13 services aces for Claremont in a 15-11, 15-9, 9-15, 15-7 victory.

In nonleague water polo:

Sunny Hills 19, Mission Viejo 9--Jose Santiago scored 6 goals and Adam Smith 5 to lead host Sunny Hills in the season opener for both schools. Nick Petrucci led Mission Viejo with 7 goals.

In girls’ nonleague tennis:

Estancia 16, Sunny Hills 2--Estancia’s No. 1 doubles team of Kari Deutsch and Shannon Suzuki swept their sets, 6-0, 6-0, 6-0. Estancia is 3-0.

Laguna Hills 16, San Clemente 2--No. 1 singles player Jenny Marques led host Laguna Hills (2-0) by sweeping her sets, 6-0, 6-0, 6-0.

Marina 10, University 8--Mary Ann Nguyen and Thu Cao led host Marina by sweeping their No. 2 doubles sets, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3. University freshman Jeanette Plypaa swept her No. 1 singles sets, 6-1, 6-1, 6-0.